Latest news with #QualysEnterpriseTruRiskPlatform
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Qualys, Inc. (QLYS): A Bull Case Theory
We came across a bullish thesis on Qualys, Inc. (QLYS) on Substack by Na's Substack. In this article, we will summarize the bulls' thesis on QLYS. Qualys, Inc. (QLYS)'s share was trading at $126.82 as of May 5th. QLYS's trailing and forward P/E were 27.27 and 21.74 respectively according to Yahoo Finance. Qualys, Inc. (QLYS) is a profitable, cloud-native cybersecurity company specializing in IT, security, and compliance solutions, with a foundation in vulnerability management (VM). Operating under a SaaS model, Qualys derives its recurring revenue from annual subscriptions tied to its integrated Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Platform. Over the past five years, the company has sustained high gross margins, consistent profitability, and robust free cash flow generation—hallmarks of a mature SaaS business. Despite these strengths, Qualys has experienced a noticeable slowdown in top-line growth, with a five-year revenue CAGR of 12.1% from 2019 to 2024, decelerating to 9.6% in 2024. This slowdown reflects saturation in the core VM market, rising competition, and the difficulty of sustaining high growth at scale. Nevertheless, the company has maintained GAAP operating margins consistently above 20% for much of this period and averaged FCF margins above 35% over the last three years, highlighting its ability to convert revenue into shareholder value, primarily through aggressive share repurchases. While Qualys remains a leader in the VM space, competitive threats from specialized players like Tenable and Rapid7, alongside platform giants such as CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks, are eroding its market edge. To combat this, Qualys is investing in broadening its platform with offerings like TotalCloud CNAPP for cloud security and endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions. These newer initiatives are strategically sound but still require significant traction to materially impact the company's growth profile. The challenge lies in convincing enterprises to adopt these newer modules in a crowded and rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape dominated by larger, more diversified vendors. The TruRisk platform's integrated approach offers a potential differentiator, but success will depend on execution and product-market fit in these newer segments. A DCF valuation that assumes growth stabilizes in the mid-single digits, while margins remain elevated, suggests an intrinsic value range of $115 to $145 per share. With shares trading around $126.75 as of late April 2025, Qualys appears fairly valued. The core investment case rests on its status as a stable, cash-generative business within cybersecurity—a sector that remains mission-critical even as growth moderates. While unlikely to deliver outsized returns from current levels, Qualys offers a compelling profile for investors seeking quality, profitability, and disciplined capital returns. Upside potential exists if newer product areas exceed expectations or strategic M&A reshapes the growth narrative. Conversely, failure to execute in these expansion areas or sustained market share loss could pressure valuation over time.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spotting Winners: Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) And Cybersecurity Stocks In Q4
Let's dig into the relative performance of Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) and its peers as we unravel the now-completed Q4 cybersecurity earnings season. Cybersecurity continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments within software for good reason. Almost every company is slowly finding itself becoming a technology company and facing rising cybersecurity risks. Businesses are accelerating adoption of cloud-based software, moving data and applications into the cloud to save costs while improving performance. This migration has opened them to a multitude of new threats, like employees accessing data via their smartphone while on an open network, or logging into a web-based interface from a laptop in a new location. The 9 cybersecurity stocks we track reported a mixed Q4. As a group, revenues beat analysts' consensus estimates by 1.1% while next quarter's revenue guidance was in line. Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 8.3% since the latest earnings results. Founded in 1999 as one of the first subscription security companies, Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) provides organizations with software to assess their exposure to cyber-attacks. Qualys reported revenues of $159.2 million, up 10.1% year on year. This print exceeded analysts' expectations by 1.9%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a mixed quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts' EBITDA estimates but full-year EPS guidance missing analysts' expectations significantly. "Customers are starting to leverage the breadth and depth of the Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Platform as they look to rearchitect and transform their security stacks," said Sumedh Thakar, Qualys' president and CEO. Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 11.6% since reporting and currently trades at $124.50. Is now the time to buy Qualys? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free. After successfully selling all four of his previous cybersecurity companies, Jay Chaudhry's fifth venture, Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) offers software-as-a-service that helps companies securely connect to applications and networks in the cloud. Zscaler reported revenues of $647.9 million, up 23.4% year on year, outperforming analysts' expectations by 2.1%. The business had a very strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts' annual recurring revenue and EBITDA estimates. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 7.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $210.54. Is now the time to buy Zscaler? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free. Founded by a duo of former Israeli Defense Forces cyber warfare engineers, Varonis (NASDAQ:VRNS) offers software-as-service that helps customers protect data from cyber threats and gain visibility into how enterprise data is being used. Varonis reported revenues of $158.5 million, up 2.9% year on year, falling short of analysts' expectations by 4.2%. It was a softer quarter as it posted full-year EPS guidance missing analysts' expectations. Varonis delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 12% since the results and currently trades at $41.28. Read our full analysis of Varonis's results here. Founded during the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009, Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA) is a cloud-based software-as-a-service platform that helps companies manage identity for their employees and customers. Okta reported revenues of $682 million, up 12.7% year on year. This print topped analysts' expectations by 2.1%. It was a strong quarter as it also logged a solid beat of analysts' billings estimates and an impressive beat of analysts' EBITDA estimates. Okta delivered the highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The stock is up 15.2% since reporting and currently trades at $100.53. Read our full, actionable report on Okta here, it's free. Founded in 2005 by cybersecurity engineer Nir Zuk, Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) makes hardware and software cybersecurity products that protect companies from cyberattacks, breaches, and malware threats. Palo Alto Networks reported revenues of $2.26 billion, up 14.3% year on year. This result beat analysts' expectations by 0.8%. More broadly, it was a mixed quarter as it also recorded an impressive beat of analysts' EBITDA estimates but a miss of analysts' billings estimates. The stock is down 13% since reporting and currently trades at $175.65. Read our full, actionable report on Palo Alto Networks here, it's free. As a result of the Fed's rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has come down from frothy levels post-pandemic. The general rise in the price of goods and services is trending towards the Fed's 2% goal as of late, which is good news. The higher rates that fought inflation also didn't slow economic activity enough to catalyze a recession. So far, soft landing. This, combined with recent rate cuts (half a percent in September 2024 and a quarter percent in November 2024) have led to strong stock market performance in 2024. The icing on the cake for 2024 returns was Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. Presidential Election in early November, sending major indices to all-time highs in the week following the election. Still, debates around the health of the economy and the impact of potential tariffs and corporate tax cuts remain, leaving much uncertainty around 2025. Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Hidden Gem Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Join Paid Stock Investor Research Help us make StockStory more helpful to investors like yourself. 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